Chapters XX & XXI Summary

Clara is unable to continue reading Wieland's confession in Chapter XX. She has read enough to conclude, in conjunction with events, that the confession is true. Clara faints and is revived by her uncle, though Clara remains deeply ill. She desires to finish reading the confession, but cannot bring herself to do so. She instead reads the conclusion. After the confession Wieland was found guilty. He refused to offer any reason why the death penalty should be commuted, rejecting the judgment of the court as unimportant in the face of God's judgment. Cambridge informs Clara that Wieland was not sentenced to death, but to imprisonment on grounds of madness. Clara believes that Wieland was driven to madness by Carwin.

In Chapter XXI, Clara discovers that Pleyel's lover, Theresa de Stolberg is actually alive, having faked her own death to...